Upbeat night for Junos
It was a night of positivity and resilience at the Juno Awards as the stars of Canadian music focused on celebrating the upsides of life.
Host Michael Buble set the tone early on Sunday night by announcing his wife’s third pregnancy — but other performers were quick to grab the tide of optimism during their own stage moments.
“I just hope that we can all rise above negativity in our lives and just do what we believe in,” said Arcade Fire’s Win Butler as he accepted the band’s album award for “Everything Now.”
“Speak your truth and don’t be afraid to just do whatever the hell you want.”
Gord Downie’s brothers Mike and Patrick accepted a posthumous award for the singer, who died last October of brain cancer.
“If we’ve learned anything from Gord it was the value of taking care of each other,” said Patrick.
“This is Gord’s award. It’s artist of the year, but he was our man of a lifetime. I’d like to believe we’re all better artists and people because of him. We love you Gord and we’re all taking good care of each other.”
A tribute to Downie was led by Sarah Harmer and Dallas Green, alongside Barenaked Ladies keyboardist Kevin Hearn.
Aside from his hosting duties, Buble also joined Diana Krall to sing the upbeat Nat King Cole classic “L-O-V-E.”
Daniel Caesar grabbed R&B/soul recording for his album “Freudian” while Jessie Reyez scored breakthrough artist. She offered an emotional acceptance speech reflecting on her sudden rise to fame.
“It means so much to get this love out at home,” she said. “Hell ya, to be Canadian say ‘Yah.’”
Both performers reappeared later to duet on Reyez’s song “Figures.”
There were a number of pseudo surprises throughout the show, though one of the night’s big surprises wouldn’t have shocked the readers of gossip magazines.
Recent speculation that Buble’s wife was pregnant became an official announcement on the show as the singer revealed actress Luisana Lopilato is expecting their third child.
He told the audience it was the second time her pregnancy has been linked to the Junos. Five years ago when he hosted in Regina, she was expecting their first child.
“Oops you did it again!” Buble said as the audience cheered the revelation.